New Illegitimate Election in Venezuela

In one of the more pathetic twists in the Venezuelan crisis, Nicolás Maduro is pushing to have new legislative elections held as quickly as he can. The Constituent Assembly, which was originally created to take power away from the democratically elected legislature, wants yet another legislature as fast as humanly possible.

"Se designa una comisión constitucional para la consulta sobre las elecciones parlamentarias, esto es rápido, tiene que ser muy rápido también. El único poder que está establecido en esta Constitución que no ha sido relegitimado por esta ANC es el poder Legislativo", expresó Cabello durante la sesión desde el Palacio Legislativo en Caracas. 

En declaraciones transmitidas por Venezolana de Televisión, Cabello señaló que la consulta debe realizarse "a la brevedad posible".

This is farce in motion. For the first time ever, the legislature under Juan Guaidó exercised significant political influence and Maduro et al are scared. Their response is to pretend it doesn't exist anymore. It's never been "relegitimated" and so new elections must be held.

The problem is that no one will recognize these elections. Like it or not, Guaidó's authority is now set and cannot be stripped from him. 

“Hemos escuchado que la oposición ha pedido elecciones. Es una forma de complacer las peticiones de la oposición para hacer elecciones de la AN que es la única que no ha sido legitimada ante la soberanísima Asamblea Nacional Constituyente”, agregó.

This is about as dumb as you can get. Guaidó did not demand "elections." He demanded "presidential elections" and there is no lack of clarity on that point. This doesn't fool anyone.

More importantly, it won't have any substantive impact. Actually, no matter how fast they move the crisis may deepen before they can act. At the moment, aid is the center of controversy. If that sparks confrontation, then everything else stops.